Using Your Stash
 

Like most cyclists, at least C&V ones, I've got a stash of "treasures" awaiting their day. You know, things like those NOS Suntour Superbe Pro hubs, things like that. But then when the day comes along to use them, I'll end up on ebay finding a slightly used version of the same part, preserving that special part, well, forever.

I'm wondering if this is a common affliction and what motivates people to finally give in and install/use some treasured part they have around.

Nope - smoke 'em if you got 'em. I use what I have, first, and go shopping to fill the holes.

Yep, what he says.

Like a squirrel, I'll eventually forget what and where I put somethng, and it'll be useless.

Better to use it or give it away to improve karma, or maybe trade it for crack.

Wow, you guys are stone killers...

I kind of feel this way too. Especially for something like NOS Suntour Superbe Pro hubs, it's only NOS once. I guess it's an appreciation for the craftsmanship of an unadulterated part or bike that makes me hesitate in using it. I suppose this is also a distinction between those who collect bikes and those who ride them.

Heh - have you ever spent time cleaning out a deceased person's garage/home? I have, and I do not want to be that guy - leaving boxes of crap all over for someone else to deal with.

I was given a Campy Chorus headset by a bike mechanic friend. Dude, that's going on the Peugeot next time I tear it apart. :thumb:

Hey, I struggle with that part as well. My wife has actually told me that I need to leave some notes so she doesn't get ripped off assuming I keel over from a coronary.

I've already written instructions on who gets what bike, LBS shipping instructions, and who gets the parts box.

You guys obviously haven't seen my house. Even I don't know exactly what's in it. In putting together the Ross, I went through a couple of parts boxes and found things I had completely forgot about-- like a nice Omas headset that now resides on the Ross. Sometimes I just have an inkling I have a part or two somewhere, then go find it.

It's pretty bad, and I think I might need to do a purge or two soon. And I have been selling off a lot more than I'm getting lately.

Its always better to run across a great part you forgot about than to dig through your stash looking for a part you know you'v got somewhere.

The bane of my existence. :lol:


I'm wrestling with the issue in spades right now with my NOS '67 Rutledge. Its not a particularly expensive/collectible/special bike but it is NOS in mint condition from 1967 and never so much as been ridden across the driveway. I wanna ride it but a part of me wants to hermetically seal it up.

Do you have a picture?

But of course :)

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_C_ZmRsQylO0/S4...0/img_0752.jpg

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_C_ZmRsQylO0/S4...0/img_0756.jpg

I've still got the box too :o Never been ridden, never even been set up as you can see by the brake adjustment....completely original right down to the paperwork.

The only real downside is the Shimano '333' 3 speed hub. Everything I've read says they're crap.

I squirreled away a nice campy steel headset (early Nuovo record), neatly packed in an old Rx bottle
waiting for the right frame to put it on. Found the frame but I still haven't found the headset have
no clue as to where it went, but someday I'll find it right where I left it 8 years ago.

Marty

Hoarding some French parts on this end for a black Paramount tourer...

-Kurt

That Rudge is cool.

Lets make this fun and list some stashed NOS things.

W/out taking inventory, I know I've got that is NOS:

Suntour Cyclone Brake Calipers
Suntour Superbe Pro brakeset (going on my mondia, though)
Suntour Sprint Headset
Spidel (Maillard) 600 Hubset (gorgeous!!!)
Superbe Pro Hubset
A variety of Suntour Vx/V-Luxe rear derailleurs (short/medium/long cages)
Suntour Compe V front derailleur
Dia Compe Gran Compe Centerpull Brakeset
Sugino Mighty Tour Crankset
Sugino Mighty bb and various spindles
Suntour Vx High Flange Hubs
Suntour Vx Lo flange hubs

I'm sure there is more, but that is what comes to mind now.

I've got the most random NOS parts.

3 Speed Shimano Stik shifter
late 60's era Italian Leather Toe Straps
Half a dozen NOS 'tire savers'
a campy DT cable stop.

Sure hope I'm on your list Rob....

The only thing I have NOS are some Schwinn cruiser style handlebars. I bought them at a garage sale along with an old pair of ape-hangers for a total of 75 cents. I only think they're NOS, but they could just be new. They're still in a clear plastic bag/wrapper with the Schwinn logo printed on it. I almost used them to fix a friends bike the other day but instead pulled handlebars off an old Huffy bike because I wanted to keep them for a special project.

Well, I got curious and went and poked around a little, in addition to previous list:

Suntour Cyclone Mk II Front/Rear derailleur
Sakae Light Alloy Pedals (platforms...)
Suzue High Flange Hubset, silver, QR
Suzue High Flange Hubset, gold, bolted
MKS Footjaw pedals
Coupla sets of Suntour downtube ratcheting shifters
About 7 Suntour Freewheels
Some Dia Compe brake hood sets (white, red)

Probably more in the jumble.

I've been coveting a set of Suzue High Flange hubs for a few years now.

Sweeeet.

I have no Campy, or Dura Ace, or stuff like that squirreled away - but I do have a hoard of dork disks, reflectors, and petrified brake shoes.

I did this with a Sante group I picked up. I planned to sell it on ebay, so I started watching all of the Sante stuff being sold to figure out the market and pricing. Next thing you know, I was winning the auctions I was "watching". I now have two complete Sante groups, plus a couple of misc parts. And I almost forgot, then I started picking up Suntour Ole bits (the Suntour competition to the Sante). Its a disease.

+1 To the Dork disks, reflectors, kick stands, etc. I have a pile of them.

I figure when I check out, the mods on duty here would just start a lottery for membas and all of youze would get them, but only if they fit you.

It took me months.

Also reminds me of the time a buddy called me up on a Saturday afternoon; he was cleaning his garage, had all of his stuff in the driveway and needed to make a quick trip to the town dump. Could I hop over and watch it for a bit? Sure. Some people drove up while he was gone and asked if there was a rummage sale going on. "Nope."

When he got back, I said, "I told them the sale was over and all of this **** was free."

My mom and dad lived in the same house from 1962 to the day they died a couple of years ago. Being a depression-era child, he saved everything he thought might be useful one day. It took four of us a long, long time just to clean out the garage. It got to the point where we just gave up, ordered a dumpster, and tossed stuff in whether it was useful or not.

My sisters saved a whole lot of crap, so now their garages are bursting at the seams and waiting for they day they pass and hand the problem to the next generation. I'm not going to do that to my family/friends if I can help it.

Buy it, enjoy it, move it along. Those NOS parts aren't doing you any good sitting in a coffee can under 20 years of National Geographics behind 4 boxes of your old bowling trophies. If you don't use them, eventually someone will get them for next to nothing after you croak, or they'll end up in a land-fill.

Use them.